MTC Post 2

Hello everyone!  Here is the latest and greatest from the MTC -

So my district knows about my extreme dislike of rabbits.  SO the Elders found this chocolate rabbit hidden somewhere in their room and stuck it in my seat before class to try to scare me.  It didn't though.  Chocolate rabbits aren't scary, they're delish!  So now we have it sitting on a shelf in our classroom to remind all that I hate rabbits.

Editorial comment - Allison talks about General Conference here.  This is held every April and October for two days. Church leaders share talks and inspirational message with the entire church via satellite and Internet broadcasting across the globe.  It is a spiritual highlight for members, but even more so for missionaries. If you'd like to see/hear some of the message shared, click here!.  Now back to the blog......

First Elder George Siting!

Two weekends ago was General Conference so they bussed the missionaries at the West Campus MTC over to our building.  Before the first Saturday Session I was determined to find Elder (Steven) George.  I kept looking and looking and I couldn't find him.  I finally though in my head "He's probably at West Campus and I won't find him."  but I decided to look one more time and lo and behold there he was walking to his seat.  He give me his goofy smile and I just freaked out and started crying so my companion and I went to see him.  It was super great!  We got some pictures together after the Saturday Evening Session of Conference at the big map and took him and his companions to smell the Cream Soda/Butterscotch Tree.  I think it smells like butterscotch and so does Steven and his companions but some other missionaries think it smells like cream soda.

SO My favorite talk at General Conference was given by Elder Christofferson.  It was about the Moral Influence that Women have.  It was way super duper good.  I like how he talked about how we as women need to protect and cultivate the Moral force and Virtue that we have.  I got two things out of conference and they were the importance of missionary work (including members) and the importance of the family and influence of women.

All the Sisters in our new zone

We had a big change in our zone last week - another District with 12 missionaries along with another District with 6 missionaries! THAT'S A LOT but that also means two of the Districts are leaving for the mission field so I had them all write in my brown Journal/Memory Book.  It was super sad.  The Elders have a tradition of passing down old Bathrobes and seat-cushions for their chairs (Super gross, but that's boys for ya!)  so we sisters decided to start a tradition - the Traveling Spanish Hymnbook.  We will pass it down from district to district as they come and leave. Each sister in the District writes on the page of their favorite Hymn their name, where they're going, and their departure date from the MTC.  It's way cute.  This was also the day we got our new International missionary.  He's from Florinapolis Brazil, Where Elder (Logan) close is serving!  Way cool!

We've been teaching Miguel, our faux investigator - he actually turned out to be one of our teachers!  We teach in Spanish and have been working on teaching faith in Jesus Christ, His Atonement, baptisms and repentance, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  We are learning quickly that these lessons will only be successful if we as missionaries have the Holy Spirit present.  I'm also learning that the gift of tongues is real.  Even though I am struggling with learning the language - and verb conjugations AARRRGGHHH! - when I teach, I don't know how I'm remembering all the words.  Well actually I do.  It is my Heavenly Father and I know I wouldn't be able to do any of this without His help.  I'm so grateful for my district.  We were definitely put together for a reason.  It was pure inspiration!

The Napkin Hedgehog

So one day we were all sitting together at lunch and I just had this craving to hold a small cute animal, but of course there aren't any here.  So  Elder Heaton grabbed a napkin and made me a hedgehog out of the napkin!  It was so cute!  So now I keep it as a pet and named him Elder Darcy.  (Editorial Comment:  Allison is in love with Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice - her favorite book and movie of all time!) 

Something even cooler is who came to speak to us at our Tuesday night Devotional.  It was Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the 12 apostles! It was such an honor to be in the presence of an Apostle of Jesus Christ.  Everyone knew before he came in that it was going to be someone important but what was really cool was when he walked in.  We were in the middle of singing a hymn and all of a sudden the doors opened and everyone stood up.  After the hymn there was dead silence and the Spirit in the room was so strong it was almost tangible. He spoke about several different things.  First he gave us 3 challenges.  The challenge to Change through repentance.  The challenge to Achieve by developing the skills we need as missionaries. And last the challenge to Become by becoming converted to the gospel.  He also spoke about 3 unique things about our church that no other church has: 1) The Fullness of the Doctrine  2) The Priesthood Authority and Power  and 3)  A Unique Testimony of the Godhead, meaning the First Vision.  It was all super good.  I loved every second of it.

Editorial Comment:  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is patterned after the church organized by Jesus Christ when he walked the earth.  We believe there is a living prophet who receive guidance from the Lord to lead and guide His church as if He were here.  We also have 12 Apostles called as special witnesses of Jesus Christ and work along side the prophet to guide the affairs of His church.  Dallin H. Oaks is on of these 12 Apostles.  The prophet and the apostles all speak, along with other church leaders, during the General Conference previously mentioned.

Sniffing the Butterscotch Tree

Last Wednesday our zone decided to Host which means we help the newly arriving missionaries as they are dropped off - just like I was three weeks ago!  We helped them in with their luggage, helped them through the check-in process and get everything they need, showed them to their rooms and classrooms and all that fun stuff that happens when you first get here. First I hosted a Philipino girl - that was way cool and she was super cute.  It took a while because she had to do language evaluations and other things.  After her I only had time to host one other sister who was going to Norway for her mission.  It was way super fun.

Last bit of news - all of the Spanish speaking missionaries are moving to the West Campus which will make it COMPLETELY SPANISH!  It's going to be like a little Mexico MTC, AND I'll see Elder George more.  We move this coming Tuesday.  We have no idea how it''s going to happen and we're not exactly super excited about the moving process but it will be great!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers - I feel them and they are a huge support! I asked Mom to do a post with all my contact info too.  Please write me letters and emails!!  I may not be able to reply to everyone but you'll never know how much I appreciate hearing from family, friends and everyone else!  

MTC Tradition - to have your picture taken - at least once - at the humongous MAP. Me and my companion pointing to where we are from and where we are going to serve our missions.

At THE MAP with my cuz, Elder Steven George!